Exploring South Africa

We have now been up to the top of Table Mountain and yesterday we went on a wine tour which also included visits to the Cheetah Outreach project and the Big Cat Park. Our driver picked us up at 8.30am from our Apartment (which is very good) and then headed to the Yacht Club to pick up George & Lynda who were doing the trip with us. On the way to the first stop we passed a strawberry farm with lots of brightly coloured scarecrows in the field and so we had to stop to take pictures and buy strawberries of course. The first stop was at the Cheetah Outreach where both George and Lynda paid extra to have a personal encounter with an adult Cheetah. This entailed the handler holding the Cheetah whilst they could kneel down and stroke the animal along his back and have their pictures taken. Lynda was thrilled as she had wanted to get up close to the Cheetahs and had not seen any on the safari we did at Richards Bay. Peter and I were happy to watch from the wire fence. At the centre they also fund and co-ordinate a South African Cheetah Anatolian Shepherd Guard dog project purchasing or breeding , placing and providing veterinary support, husbandry and monitoring for working dogs which promotes non-lethal predator control. Basically the dogs are bred to give to local farmers who in the past were shooting the cheetahs to control them as they attacked their livestock. The cheetah is actually an endangered species as numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 100 years down to some 850 in South Africa. After the Cheetah experience we went to Stellenbosh for the first wine visit to the best wine producer called Spier where we had a wine tasting followed by lunch in Moyo which is an authentic African experience! The wine tasting was very organised and we had six wines to try including some sparkling wine made by the Cap Classique method which is like champagne. We bought some bubbly and wines to take back to the boat. The lunch was an all you could eat buffet which was very well done. During lunch we were serenaded by local singers and one of the waiters came to paint your face if you wanted some spots! After lunch we had a short drive to the next wine producer Vredenheim where there was also a Big Cat park so first we had to look around the park at the Lions and Tigers there. Next up was gthe wine tasting which was 5 different wines. Again we had to buy some more wine of course! On the way home our driver stopped at a large liquor store where the men were able to buy cases of beer as the local supermarkets do not sell beer just wines. So the taxi was loaded up again and we eventually got back to the Apartment at around 6.30pm. A long tiring day but extremely enjoyable. Trompeta is now back in the water again having been antifouled and buffed and polished on the topsides. We put the genoa back on as Peter had also had a new furler intslled as the old one was starting to wear and he did not want to risk anything happening half way across the Atlantic! Sunday we will put the main sail back on as the wind will be blowing in the right direction by then. At the moment it is a NW wind and coming behind the boat but to put sails up you have to be facing into the wind. Saturday we intend to go to the cinema as the new James Bond movie is showing and it is ages since Peter has seen a good film.